! & I'm quite excited I must say lol.It's the first part of a very long chapter, which I didn't want to post all at once incase it was off-putting, but I guess should be kept in mind whilst reading. Please be as critical as possible
Thank you!
CH1 - PART 1
Nine years feels like nothing when you relive the same day every night in your dreams, when you can recall every moment and every feeling like it happened yesterday. Tonight is no different to any other night and as I wearily close my eyes, losing the barriers of consciousness to sleep, I can see the same familiar images flickering into focus…
The lazy morning sun struggled to leak though the thick clouds and the trees spilling over the footpath drowned me in distorted shadows. The thrill of successfully sneaking out without being caught had left me somewhere back at the front gate and the swagger I’d adopted on my way down the front path had turned into an anxious half-run. I followed the familiar bend where the footpath suddenly narrowed and the trees became so hunched either side that they met in the middle. I hurried through the leafy tunnel, my eyes fixed straight ahead, ignoring the rustling and twittering of the hidden creatures lurking in the branches. Eventually I reached the part of the path where it slowly began to widen and the dense forest began to sink back, allowing the cool morning sunshine to bathe me in its comforting glow. As it straightened out fully I could see her house. I could see her small frame sat on the garden wall, legs swinging back and forth with content. Her head was tilted to one side dreamily and her hands, either side of her, were tracing idle patterns on the wall in symmetrical sweeping motions. As I got closer I could see the droplets of light dancing in the wiry strands of her untamed auburn hair that haphazardly fell about her face and sat in a thick plait on her back. She turned to look at me as my clumpy shoes against the gravely ground announced my arrival. Her face was as chalky as always and her large eyes shone with excitement.
“Morning,” she beamed, jumping down from the wall to stand in front of me.
“Hi,” I replied meekly.
“I’ve been waiting for hours,” she said dramatically, but still with a smile so broad it was almost tickling her ears.
“Sorry,” I managed to mumble.
“What for?” she asked giggling.
I shrugged helplessly.
“Silly George,” she said, shaking her head fondly and taking me by the hand.
The bracelets and bangles running up her arm knocked against my wrist with their smooth, round beads and jingled musically as she swung our conjoined arms back and forth.
We were taking our usual route, which began at the foot of the forest. A familiar mild flutter of fear teased my insides as we approached the crowded woodland. No matter how many times we walked through it, it never seemed to get any friendlier. Each time we ended up taking a slightly different route, sometimes getting lost. We had to walk straight; very straight if we were to eventually come out at the cliffs, but more often than not Ally would run off in all different directions to give us an adventure, put us in a predicament we had to struggle out of, just for the fun of it.
We dropped hands as we reached the wooden fence that marked the end of the safety of the footpath, and the beginning of the leafy unknown. We set about clambering our way over it. Ally first, then me second. I caught sight of her chosen footwear as she jumped down on the other side and smiled. One knee-length clumpy black boot was tied clumsily to one foot and on the other sat a pretty red shoe with a neat bow to the side. She caught sight of mine, as I followed her over, and clicked her tongue disapprovingly.
“Your shoes are the same again,” she giggled, shaking her head. ”You don’t half look funny!”
I looked down at my matching white trainers and laughed too, saying I wouldn’t make the same mistake again.
We wandered through the trees, ducking under low branches and stumbling through prickly bushes, thankfully going very definitely in a straight line. Ally began to sing all the wrong words to one of those songs her mum always played on the radio. I felt my pent up anxiety about what or who was lurking in the trees around us physically drop from my shoulders as she cheerfully sang away. Our feet practically bounced over the soft damp earth of the forest floor and I felt almost weightless, like if I kicked off hard enough I could fly up above the canopy looming over us. But the alien feeling of being carefree was short-lived as a niggling thought swiftly entered my head. It was a curiosity to know what was so special about today’s adventure, a curiosity to discover the reason for the excitement that danced in her throat as she sang and sparkled in her shockingly green eyes as she walked. So reluctantly I interrupted her tuneful rambling, my curiosities getting the better of me.
“Ally?” I began cautiously.
“Yes, George?”
“What we gonna’ do today?”
“We’re moving,” she told me, very matter-of-factly.
“Moving?”
“Yep,” she smiled.
“Where too?” I asked, slightly perplexed.
“From the cove, to a new place,” she explained dreamily, staring off into the distance. “A beautiful place. My mum told me about it last night and I can see it from my window. It’s our new special place George.”
I mulled this over for a while as we continued to walk, before asking, “where is this place?”
“On top of the hill behind my garden,” she replied gleefully, as if she’d been sure to memorise it.
“Hill behind your garden?” I enquired, my voice wobbling slightly.
“Yeah,” she said lightly. “You must have seen it before. You can’t miss it!”
“Y-Yeah,” I replied faltering. “That hill with the house.”
“That’s the place!” she exclaimed excitedly, dropping my hand and dancing around on the spot.
My stomach flipped uncomfortably and I felt the colour drain from my face.
“It’s so perfect,” she said blissfully.
“Have you been there before?” I asked squeakily.
She shook her head so that her loose curls bounced softly against her face.
“Never. I can’t wait!” she beamed, picking my hand up again and resuming her singing.
“Me neither,” I said in almost a whisper, suddenly feeling incredibly sick.
She smiled mid-song and squeezed my hand.
We continued to trample our way through the forest, Ally skipping and swinging her arms, making me laugh as mine swung awkwardly with hers. Occasionally she’d stop and bend down as something unusual caught her eye, picking it up and popping it into her bag. It was something she always did, collecting ingredients for her magical concoctions that we’d sometimes foolishly sample. She was convinced she had supernatural powers and knowing her as I did, so was I. But she was picking up those particular objects with a scrutiny I’d never seen before.
“Special magic to be made today,’ she kept muttering under her breath.
I looked at her expression closely as she spoke, noting a deep seriousness in her frown. It did nothing to calm the feeling of dread that had gradually begun to form like a bubble in the middle of my throat. I just hoped it wouldn’t burst into floods of cowardly tears and I would be able see this adventure through. I swallowed hard and concentrated on the thought of it being beautiful and special just like Ally had said, managing to trick myself into feeling excited. Well, very nearly.
